Police say they switched victimsÂ? IDs

Investigators apologize for mixing up dead, injured women.

Investigators apologize for mixing up dead, injured women.

May 08, 2006

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) Â? Police said they accidentally switched the identities of two women involved in a collision between two trucks, leading relatives of a dead victim to believe she was still alive and vice versa.

The mistake was discovered by family members of one of the victims when they went to a hospital room expecting to see her and instead found someone else.

The mother and sister of Brenda L. Holguin, 43, of Albuquerque, N.M., arrived Thursday at Battle Creek Health System and told authorities that the woman in the hospital bed actually was Diane S. Paceco, 32, also of Albuquerque.

Paceco was listed in critical condition Friday. Members of her family were headed for Battle Creek to see her, officials said.

Police in Calhoun County's Emmett Township apologized for the mistake but said they had difficulty identifying the two women injured in Tuesday's crash. Holguin later died.

Frank Post, public safety director for the township, told the Battle Creek Enquirer for a Friday story that officers found identification with photos for both women in the wreckage but not on either person.

Both have dark hair and dark eyes and are similar in physical appearance, height and weight. Both women suffered severe facial injuries, making identifications difficult when using driver's license photos, Post said.

Police said the accident happened about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday when a semi-truck driven by Paceco apparently failed to stop for a flashing red light and collided with a truck operated by a 40-year-old Battle Creek man. He was treated at the hospital and released.